We here describe the first partial cranium of Hyaenodon leptorhynchus, the type species of the taxonomically diverse and widely distributed hypercarnivorous genus Hyaenodon (Hyaenodonta). The cranium is from the S´eon Saint-Andr´e deposits (Marseille, France; Chattian, MP26). It is preserved in a dense red marl matrix that obscures key morphological features. CT-scans were used to reconstruct the specimen. The morphology of the cranium reinforces the homogeneity previously observed in Hyaenodon despite its specific diversity. The fossil represents a juvenile: it preserves its deciduous canines and the P3 is almost fully erupted. This pattern of delayed canine eruption is a trait shared among North American and European Hyaenodon. This discovery is the third occurrence of this species in the early Chattian: indeed, over a period of 5 My (from MP24 to MP27), only two occurrences (Rigal-Jouet and Saint-Martin de Casselvi, MP25) have been reported. Based on body mass and the general Hyaenodon body plan, we confidently identify H. leptorhynchus as a cursorial hypercarnivorous predator, hunting prey such as small artiodactyls. In order to understand the evolution of the European carnivorous faunas, we compared taxonomic diversity and the evolution of body mass in Hyaenodon and amphicyonids: this reveals stasis in Hyaenodon through the late Eocene and Oligocene, while amphicyonids show an extensive ecological diversification, especially during the Chattian.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
The Pyramidellidae of the islands of Saint Helena and Ascension are studied. New information is provided on the Pyramidellids described in the work of SMITH (1890a). Five species new to science are described: Cingulina boirai n. sp, Miralda verhaeghei n. sp., Parthenina stanyi n. sp., Odostomia lucsegersi n. sp. and Odostomia templadoi n. sp. Syntypes of Obeliscus (Syrnola) sanctaehelenae, Obeliscus (Syrnola) pumilio, Turbonilla truncatelloides, Turbonilla haroldi, Turbonilla brachia, Turbonilla assimilans, Leucotina minuta and Odostomia glaphyra are figured. A lectotype is designated for Turbonilla (Dunkeria) eritima, considered a synonym of T. assimilans. New generic allocations are proposed for seven species.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
Adulis, located on the Red Sea coast in present-day Eritrea, was a bustling trading centre between the first and seventh centuries CE. Several classical geographers—Agatharchides of Cnidus, Pliny the Elder, Strabo—noted the value of Adulis to Greco-Roman Egypt, particularly as an emporium for living animals, including baboons (Papio spp.). Though fragmentary, these accounts predict the Adulite origins of mummified baboons in Ptolemaic catacombs, while inviting questions on the geoprovenance of older (Late Period) baboons recovered from Gabbanat el-Qurud (‘Valley of the Monkeys’), Egypt. Dated to ca. 800–540 BCE, these animals could extend the antiquity of Egyptian–Adulite trade by as much as five centuries. Previously, Dominy et al. (2020) used stable isotope analysis to show that two New Kingdom specimens of Papio hamadryas originate from the Horn of Africa. Here, we report the complete mitochondrial genomes from a mummified baboon from Gabbanat el-Qurud and 14 museum specimens with known provenance together with published georeferenced mitochondrial sequence data. Phylogenetic assignment connects the mummified baboon to modern populations of P. hamadryas in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and eastern Sudan. This result, assuming geographical stability of phylogenetic clades, corroborates Greco-Roman historiographies by pointing toward present-day Eritrea, and by extension Adulis, as a source of baboons for Late Period Egyptians. It also establishes geographic continuity with baboons from the fabled Land of Punt (Dominy et al., 2020), giving weight to speculation that Punt and Adulis were essentially the same trading centres separated by a thousand years of history.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
